Brilliant
by Emullz
Summary: She was frozen and he said "wingardium leviosa" and she thought that she'd never seen a spell performed so perfectly in her entire life. Ron and Hermione through the ages. For old time's sake and my sister.


She was in a bathroom stall and and she was crying about something he said. Suddenly there was a troll, and two boys, and one of them jumped into action but she was paralyzed, her wand was in her hand but her mouth wouldn't move and she was terrified.

And he looked at the troll and reached for his wand and said "wingardium leviosa" and she didn't think she'd ever seen a spell performed so perfectly.

It landed on the bathroom floor with a resounding thud, and he finally met her gaze. He was smiling at her, a sort of relieved, exhilarated smile that made her wish she got into trouble more often. He seemed to have that affect on her.

It had been said. That word. "Mudblood."

She knew right away it was about her parents. Her birth status. He knew it too, and he stepped up with a look of pure fury in his eyes, whipping out his poor, broken wand. Then his spell backfired.

When he vomited the first slug, she almost cried. They grabbed him and dragged him to Hagrid's hut, where he threw up slugs in a bucket, all the while consoling her and saying that blood didn't matter, she was worth a million of that prat.

When she told him that she wished he hadn't done it, it was a lie. When she told him that Malfoy wasn't worth any of his spells, she hadn't been more truthful in her entire life.

They had fought all term about his stupid, insufferable rat and her mangy old cat. They had been at odds for what seemed like forever.

And then she was watching him being dragged away by a big black dog, all because of his stupid rat.

All he did was complain about it, but there he was, slipping away from her and into the most haunted house in Hogsmeade for fat, piebald Scabbers.

But then she followed him and he screamed at her to get out, run, get away from the trap he'd been used as bait for. She almost went, and then she saw his broken leg.

He couldn't run. And yet there he was, telling her to save herself. He'd risk his life for his two best friends- or a rat he never really like anyway.

There were Death Eaters everywhere, people were screaming, and they were running through the woods, through the crowds of shrieking people, and she couldn't see him anymore, oh, where had he gone- and then she felt a hand grab her wrist and slide down to squeeze her fingers. Then it yanked, hard.

He pulled her farther and farther into the woods, all because she would be in danger if they stayed where they were. He didn't let go of her hand until they saw the aurors and knew she'd be safe.

She was in the Forbidden Forest, covered in blood, and absolutely helpless. She didn't know what to do, they needed to get to the Department of Mysteries, but he was in the castle and she didn't know how to get him out.

And then she heard his voice through the trees and her heart leapt; he'd gotten away from them and come to get her.

As they flew off to go fight in a war they were too young to even contemplate, she kept looking over at him and wondering how he managed to surprise her. And how he kept making her stomach do these odd kinds of sideways somersaults.

He looked so pale, lying on the bed. His hair was the only bright thing about his sunken cheeks, faded freckles and paled lips.

They were sitting in a circle around his bed when she heard it. He whispered her name. It was more of a croak, really, but it was unmistakably the 3 syllables of her name.

And then it was like everyone else was gone and it was just her and a silent vigil, waiting for him to say her name one more time, waiting for a sign of his presence. He was thinking of her, and that was enough.

There was a battle going on, and he'd been so smart, he really had, getting those fangs and bringing them up to Harry to destroy little pieces of the most feared wizard of all time. He'd been able to come up with a solution to something that had gone unsolved the whole year, and it was incredible.

And they were carrying the fangs and running through the castle when he stopped short and wondered about the safety of the House Elves and she was in his arms, because he never ceased to amaze her in all the ways that he was brave and courageous and selfless and intelligent.

He had vanquished a troll to save a little girl he barely knew, he had vomited slugs for a muggleborn, he had been willing to die at the hands of a known killer for his two best friends and a rat, and he'd held a scared girl's hand for an hour in a darkened wood. He'd hexed a teacher to save a felon, survived poison, only to worry about his friends while unconscious, and he'd saved the world.

Hermione Granger always said that there was one title she'd never really earned.

He had never ceased to remark on her intelligence, but he'd never realized that he was wrong. Ron Weasley had always been the brilliant one.

_so i took some liberties with the cuteness. so maybe they didn't say that ron held hermione's hand in goblet of fire, but they didn't say that their hands didn't touch once or twice. also, they weren't very cute in that book so i created some cute. it's not strictly au, it's just... a little nudge in the romione direction. idk. _

_to clear some things up: one lil section per year (if the pattern was seeming elusive to you) and the hes are mostly ron, while the shes are mostly hermione (if you didn't get it maybe read it again, i'm sure you'll like it better). _

_thanks for reading. hope you enjoyed._


End file.
